DATING VIOLENCE - STUDENT BELIEFS ABOUT CONSEQUENCES

Beliefs about dating violence and abuse were studied in a sample of 29 8 undergraduate and graduate students. After reading 15 vignettes, res pondents were asked to rate how violent and abusive a depicted inciden t was, what they thought was likely to happen to the relationship in t he future, and what should happen following the incident. The depicted incidents varied along eight dimensions: nature of the act, consequen ces, gender of perpetrator, gender of victim extent of relationship, a lcohol consumption, extent of provocation, and history of violence. Pe rsonal experiences with violence were also assessed. Beliefs about wha t was likely to happen to the relationship and what should happen were influenced by both vignette characteristics (nature of the act, gende r of perpetrator, and outcome) and perceived violence and abusiveness, as well as respondent characteristics.